An Anarchy of Families: State and Family in the Philippines

by Alfred W. McCoy (Editor)

Winner of the National Book Award for Social Sciences, this pioneering volume reveals how the power of the country's family-based oligarchy both derives from and contributes to a weak Philippine state. From provincial warlords to modern managers, prominent Filipino leaders have fused family, politics, and business to compromise public institutions and amass private wealth--a historic pattern that persists to the present.

Edited by Alfred W. McCoy, An Anarchy of Families explores the pervasive influence of the modern dynasties that have led the Philippines during the past century. Exemplified by the Osmeñas and Lopezes, elite Filipino families have formed a powerful oligarchy--controlling capital, dominating national politics, and often owning the media. Beyond Manila, strong men such as Ramon Durano, Ali Dimaporo, and Justiniano Montano have used "guns, goons, and gold" to accumulate power in far-flung islands and provinces. In a new preface for his revised edition, McCoy shows how this pattern of oligarchic control has continued into the twenty-first century, despite dramatic socio-economic change has supplanted the classic "three Gs" of the Philippine politics with the contemporary "four Cs"--continuity, Chinese, criminality, and celebrity.

Genres: History, Politics, Academic, Nonfiction

542 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1993

About the author

Dr Alfred W. McCoy is professor of SE Asian History at the U. of Wisconsin at Madison where he also serves as director of the Center for SE Asian Studies, a federally-funded National Resource Center. He's spent the past quarter-century writing about the politics & history of the opium trade. In addition to publications, he serves as a correspondent for the Observatoire Geopolitique des Drogues in Paris & was plenary speaker at their '92 conference in Paris sponsored by the European Community. In '93, he presented a paper on the Mafia & the Asian heroin trade at the Conference in Honor of Giovanni Falcone in Palermo, Sicily. In 3/96, he was the plenary speaker at the 7th International Conference on Drug Harm Reduction in Hobart, Australia. He's served as expert witness & consultant to the Canadian Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical use of Drugs, the Australian Royal Commission of Inquiry into Drugs, the Minister of Administrative Services, Victoria State Parliament, & the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Drug Enforcement Policy & Support in the Office of the US Secretary of Defense. Recently, he worked as consultant & commentator for a tv documentary on the global heroin traffic produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, accompanying the crew to locations in Burma, Thailand, Vietnam & Laos.

Reviews

[Michael Gerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

The family as an institution is always exalted in the Philippines; it is often presented in popular discourse, through the media, that a family that bonds together is a good thing. While true, popular perceptions of the family often preclude its darker side, that familial interests have been detrimental to the politics and political economy of the country.

An Anarchy of Families is a classic text on the relationship between the Philippine state and society, specifically the socio-economic elites who have dominated the economic and political spheres of the country since the 19th century. It shows how the Philippine state has long been dominated by oligarchs who have economic bases (mostly, and initially, agricultural land) outside the state, but have access to it for political power to protect their economic interests through direct elective office or through connections using patronage, bribery, and violence.

The oligarchy's domination of the Philippine state can be traced to the colonial period, especially under the US. The US co-opted the elites by creating state structures that the latter easily occupied due to their wealth and status. Since then, the state has been the source of rents through licenses, loans, and regulatory statutes that allow some to benefit from the market of a good or service. Domination of national and local state institutions by the the elite becomes a means for wealth accumulation, a system that can be described as oligarchic patrimonialism or patrimonial elite rule (Weber, 1978; Hutchcroft, 1991, 1998). Instead of a state that has considerable autonomy from societal groups, patrimonial elite rule sees an oligarchy preying on a weak state for particularistic interests.

The Philippines' political economy, thus, sees an oligarchy that used to rely solely on the trade of raw agricultural products to the US, which further enriched their wealth but stunted Philippine industrialization and development. The oligarchs have since diversified their economic bases aside from the ownership of land, but their power and influence are still ubiquitous. The emergence, however, of new actors and a more assertive civil society has slightly made a dent on the oligarchs' grip of the state and serves as an indicator that other societal groups also have a stake in the state and make democracy more participatory and inclusive.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an intimate look at Philippine political economy through detailed studies of local, clan-based power struggles. I am not usually a fan of edited collections, but this collection is thematically tight, well-researched, and morbidly gripping.

[DC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply put: this is a shocking (though interesting) look into the lives of some of the most powerful families in the Philippines. It almost makes one want to cry in angry anguish, honestly speaking.

[Richard Sisson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but very dense. The Introduction provided valuable insights and a good summary of the issues. The chapters were of variable quality, some just too dense and repetitive. Could have been edited more rigorously. A further edition, covering changes in the fortunes of the families in the book over the past three decades and other families, would be fascinating.

[Kitteh · Rating 3 out of 5]

"there can be no conclusion to the ever-changing history of such a dynamic social stratum. Looking back over the past two hundred years, the Filipino elite, both provincial dynasties and the national oligarchy, has changed constantly in both composition and character. "

How interesting.

[bea :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

(read over the summer) incredibly insightful and eye-opening; might re-read soon

[Francie Kaye]

read a chapter for class. will read other chapters once i find time.

[Tito Quiling, Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading this volume right on the 12th, coinciding with the Philippine Independence Day. While it has been transparent that generations of powerful surnames have been controlling major components of Philippine society, the essays in this book revealed that socioeconomic power goes all the way back to our first colonial masters, where these families were able to manipulate their status by anchoring on the temper of the times and switching allegiances like taking off their day coats. All the more, with a handful of families tied to provincial and state politics, one realizes that democracy is only an illusion, under three empires and seven republics.